6 replies to this topic

[Zanathan]

This started off as a bit of fun and something to occupy myself with in my many long meetings at work. The basis is a casual solution brief aimed at the design/development to address the issue of role and information warfare, promoting lower weight classes, improving customisation and some existing customer pain points (e.g. requiring 3 mech variants to progress).

So it is very lengthy and I no doubt would lose most of you within the first few paragraphs but as I was thinking through the ideas, everything was inter-related and to address one area required touching on others and hence the length of the document (since it is a document and not an article per say). When I finished I figured it was just going to collect dust so I might as well ‘publish’ it and hope the devs might find it insightful and others may enjoy it. So here it is ..


Solution Brief

Overview

The state of role and information warfare is close to non-existent in the current game. This hampers the players and the game overall in many ways, such as:

• There is no reason for playing specific weight classes or roles
  
• There is no depth in customising a mech to a specific role
  
• Lower weight classes are not as popular as their heavier brethren
  
• The game is geared towards damage dealing and killing and does not reward players for playing differently and usefully (i.e. team player)

This ties in closely with the mech skill trees, modules system and the reward system that are currently in place and hence to address the role and information aspect of the game requires changes to these areas as well.


Purpose

• Inject in depth information and role warfare into the game
  
• Provide players the ability to customise each variant to a specific role
  
• Provide a greater feeling of progression for players without the feeling of being forced down a particular path (e.g. requiring 3 variants to unlock additional skills)
  
• Provider players greater choice in their playstyle and progression (as opposed to the current monotonous leveling experience)
  
• Ensure the business needs are maintained by encouraging cash injections
  
  • Provide incentives for leveling up additional variants of the same chassis thereby requiring additional mechbays and potential of converting mech XP to general XP (to reduce leveling time)
    
  • Create a framework where there are relevant modules for each mech proficiency group

Inclusions

• Redesign of the pilot/mech skills to cater to:
  
  • Different and wider range of roles and customisation
    
  • Inject information skills that cater towards team play
    
  • Deeper level of mech progression
• Realignment of modules to skill sets

Exclusions

• Overhaul of the reward system
  
• Comprehensive module listing (only concepts are provided)

Assumptions

• Changes to the skill trees system will require a refund of experience points to the player (both mech and general)

Dependencies

• While the changes proposed address many of the issues with the current player progression, information and role warfare, an update/rehaul of the reward system needs to be implemented to complement the solution
  
• Rework and additional modules to be created to complement the framework proposed
  
• Additional commander commands/abilities to be implemented (e.g. attack target mech, defend target meth, etc)
  
• Limit the existing information sharing mechanics to promote reconnaissance and command roles

Risk and Limitations

• Additional Balance complexities with the introduction of multiple mech proficiencies and specialisations
  
• If the proficiencies are not balanced adequately this could lead to newly purchase mechs unable to compete with upgraded mechs
  
• Re-use existing frameworks/assets where possible to minimise rework (i.e. mech skill system, module system, etc)

Solution Description

Before proceeding it’s important to clearly define roles categories and what influences them. There are basically two types:

• Offensive roles (e.g. brawler, sniper, missile support, etc)

Determined by:

• Mech chassis and possibly variant
  
• Weapon loadout and weapon modules

• Non-offensive roles (e.g. scout, team assist, leader, etc)

Determined by:

• Mech chassis
  
• Mech modules and consumables

The two categories are not mutually exclusive and go hand in hand as you can have combinations of an offensive build playing to a particular playstyle (recon). While offensive roles have clear definitions with the available mechanics in game now, the fundamental problem with the current implementation is there isn’t any mechanic that strongly defines a specific non-offensive role. All mechs have the same efficiencies once they have leveled up and the only true customisation is from modules which are fairly limited in scope (adding 2-3 mech modules does not make a good scout for example).


To address the core issue with role and information warfare there needs to be a redesign the mech/pilot efficiency skill tree, the module and consumables relationships and additional abilities that enhance specific roles.

The brief will cover each of these aspects in detail below.


Mech Proficiencies/Skill Trees

The current mech skill tree have useful abilities but lack any meaningful progression past the elite level of skills. Further all mechs have the same group of skills to choose from and this severely limits the choices a player can make in terms of modifications, technically there is no choice. While modules offer a path for customisation, it is limited due to:

• Modules can be utilised by all mechs without any tie in with their role or skills
  
• While the current module slots and combinations of available modules provide a degree of customisation, it does not equate to a deep level of role warfare
  
• Confusing relationship between modules that need to be unlocked with general XP and their purchasable consumable/modules counterparts

The idea behind the proposed proficiency groups is to provide players with:

• The ability to customise their mechs to a specific role and playstyle
  
• A deeper level of player progression
  
• A wider range of customisation options

Note: The emphasis is on the framework that the proficiency groups and their tie in with the relevant modules/consumables provide. Do not be too concerned with the proficiencies themselves or the numbers, as they can be different and/or changed at any point once the framework is in place.


Mech Proficiencies

Core Mech Proficiencies

These proficiency groups represent the core abilities all mechs can achieve given time and money. The core skills are broken down to the following key areas:

Mobility
- Proficiencies related to movement (i.e. acceleration/deceleration, turning, torso twist, etc.)

Mechanics
- Proficiencies related to mech internals (i.e. heat management, weight and critical slots, ignition times, etc.)

Armaments
- Proficiencies related to weapons (i.e. accuracy, cooldown rates, etc.)

The rules for these groups are:

• Mechs can only upgrade up 2 core proficiency groups (a choice has to be made by the player)
  
• Players do not have to upgrade up 3 other variants of the same chassis to unlock the Specialist Mech Proficiencies
  
• Players will have a choice to upgrade other variants of the same chassis to gain additional bonuses

Note: For the sake of simplicity, naming conventions (basic/elite/master) currently used will remain in place


The incentive to upgrade additional variants of the same chassis is as follows:

Basic (1st) Tier

Requirements = none

Elite (2nd) Tier

Requirements = upgrading up an additional variant of the same chassis

Rewards = x1.5 to skill bonuses

Master (3rd) Tier

Requirements = upgrading up an additional 2 variants of same chassis

Rewards = x2 to skill bonuses

However players can choose to only upgrade one mech and ignore the additional bonuses that can be achieved if they choose to. The key here is providing players with the choice but also incentives to purchase additional mechs which keeps in alignment with providing a source of revenue for the business (mech bays, mech and equipment purchases - aka money sink).

• Core proficiencies are upgraded using Core XP (CXP) - the old Mech XP
  
• CXP is obtained in the same fashion as the current mechanic (spotting, assisting, damage, etc)

An example of the Core Proficiencies

Note:

• Designed with 7 proficiencies per group however this number can vary
  
• Some module skills have been adopted as proficiencies for sake of examples

Diagram 1: Example of in-game core proficiencies screen (note CXP values are arbitrary)




* Used as examples of mechanic proficiencies that can be introduced (obviously only relevant if knockdowns are re-introduced)

** Bonus metrics need to be tweaked to ensure players who do not level up additional variants are not at a greater disadvantaged by those that do (the 2x bonus should give an edge to the player, not have them totally dominate)


Specialist Mech Proficiencies

These proficiency groups represent the specialist abilities mechs and 2 of them are restricted to specific weight classes. The specialist skills are broken down to the following key areas:

Reconnaissance (available to all mechs)
- Proficiencies related to intelligence gathering and targeting

Defense (available to all mechs)
- Proficiencies related to mech defense

Sapper and Support (available to light and medium mechs only)
- Proficiencies related to support and combat engineering (i.e. mines)

Tactician (available to heavy and assault mechs only)
- Proficiencies related to lance/company/star/binary command (ability to request for support units) and team assistance

The rules for these groups are:

• The specialist proficiency groups are unlocked once 2 core proficiency groups are completed
  
• Mechs can only upgrade up 2 (out of 3) specialist proficiency groups (a choice has to be made by the player)
  
• Specialist proficiencies are upgraded using Specialist XP (SXP) - the old General XP
  
• SXP is obtained in the same fashion as the current mechanic (5% of Core XP gains) however given the breadth of proficiencies to upgrade it is suggested this gain is increased to higher values so that players can completely upgrade in a timely fashion (refer to modules and consumables for additional reasons)
  
• CXP can be converted to SXP, as per the current conversion of MXP -> GXP
  
  • It is still beneficial for players who are willingly to convert CXP to SXP to assist with upgrading their specialisation proficiencies (time vs money)
• No additional bonuses are provided for upgrading other variants of the same chassis as it is with Core proficiencies however this can be easily incorporated if required for added bonuses and greater incentives for purchasing and upgrading additional variants (however lowering SXP requirements for each proficiency is recommended)

Diagram 2 - Completing 2 core proficiencies for the mech unlocks specialist proficiencies


An example of the Specialist Proficiencies



Diagram 3 - Example of the specialist proficiencies for a Centurion battlemech (note SXP values are arbitrary)



* Note: Proficiencies have metric limitations if additional bonuses (x1.5 and x2 for additional mech variants upgraded) are adopted then the values would scale accordingly without being over powered. Values can be tweaked for balance purposes.

Edited by Zanathan, 21 August 2014 - 09:33 PM.

[Zanathan]

Solution Considerations

The proficiency groups were designed with the following conditions:

• All proficiency groups need to be viable and enticing
  
• Specialised proficiencies for specific weight classes need to align with their attributes (speed, size, etc)
  
• Minimise max proficiency groups by forcing players to pick their playstyle (e.g. max build of fast, cool and strong offensive builds) - all roles/builds need a drawback
  
• Minimise abuse of indirect player damage by restricting to specific weight classes (i.e. artillery, air strikes, mines, etc)

Reconnaissance Proficiency - Limit to specific weight classes?

• Would it make sense if assaults had recon given they are limited by speed and movement?
  
  • Yes given targeting / sensors are useful to mechs other than recon mechs (i.e. view critical points / enhance situational awareness) and should not be restricted to specific weight classes (i.e. lights and mediums)
• This proficiency group serves two purposes:
  
• Enhances the abilities of scouting mechs
  
• Still remain useful to non-scouting mechs

and needs to be available to all weight classes.



Reconnaissance Proficiency - Promote lower weight classes and scouting

Due to the combination of map sizes, game modes and the ease of gathering and relaying information, scouting is not highly valued. It is possible to limit how easy information is obtained and relayed by means of other mechanics (i.e. enforcing equipment requirements (e.g. C3) or limiting the range at which information can be relayed to other units if not specialising in reconnaissance) and thereby promote the scouting role and by extension lower weight classes, this however would require major changes to the current implementation.

So while the a major rework of how information is obtained and relayed is possible, it is recommended that lower weight classes can be promoted by providing other viable roles other than just scouting via proficiencies (refer to Sapper and Support).

For reference, below is the considerations for restricting information gathering and relaying:

Spoiler

Enhancing Information Relaying Alternative (High Risk)

• Currently once a mech is targeted this info is available to all friendlies and given information is currently easy to obtain:
  
  • Information gathering is not considered a valuable ability
    
  • Scouts are not as useful

The following limitations can be imposed to ensure information is more difficult to obtain which increases the value of information gathering and promotes role specialisations:


Option 1: Equipment Requirement

• Simplified version of the C3 Master/Slave or C3i (which is technically not available until 3058). Basically without C3 mechs cannot easily relay information to the rest of the team (e.g. their status, enemy targeted, etc)
  
• Mechs receiving the information do not require a C3 unit, only those relaying the information
  
• Can possibly add a delay to the information refresh rate to the rest of the team (enhanced by proficiencies/modules)
  
• 
  Recon proficiencies to enhance equipment (boost range, refresh rates, etc)

Pros:

• Restricts information gathering abilities to players who wish to play a recon role
  
• Additional money sink to purchase C3 equipment

Cons:

• Recon mechs would be required to equip the C3 units (additional tonnage and cost to the player)
  
• Changes to the current mechanic would require players to adapt
  
• New players would need to be educated on the C3 equipment and functionality

Option 2: Restrict Range

• Limit the range for information to be relayed to and from (i.e. 250m)
  
• Proficiencies/modules provide further enhancements to information relay
  
• Fast recon mechs would be useful to relay the information back to the rest of the team and can cater towards slow mechs who wish to relay information and use the targeting/sensor enhancements
  
• The proficiencies will still be useful to non-recon mechs since brawlers, fire support, etc need to target enemies and the proficiencies enhance targeting and sensors

Pros:

• Restricts information gathering abilities to players who wish to play a recon role
  
• Does not severely limit the ability to relay information for non-recon mechs
  
• Increased usefulness for recon mechs given they are key in obtaining and relaying information easily (obviously individual mechs can still target enemy units but not relay the information when out of range)
  
• No major changes to game mechanics on how information is relayed save for the range limitations
  
• No equipment dependencies to fulfill role

Cons:

• Changes to the current mechanic would require players to adapt (not as severe as option 1)
  
• New players will still need to learn additional complexities

Sapper and Support Proficiency - Why?

• Make lights/medium have an additional unique role that is appealing
  
• Sapper role would be suitable for fast mechs to be able to deploy / clear mines quickly (hit and run)
  
• Support abilities such as capturing, base defense and future features would again be suitable for fash mechs
  
• This introduces a whole set of useful consumables to be monetised (money sink)
  
• Alternatively a completely different set of abilities can be introduced to replace this proposal as long as it synergises with faster and lighter weight classes

Tactician Proficiency - Limit to specific weight classes?

• Couldn’t a lower weight mech be a leader?
  
  • Fast mechs especially those with recon abilities would have significant amount of data to make decisions
    
  • Fast mechs can get into position easier than the slower mechs
• However lower weight classes already have a dedicated proficiency group that would be better aligned to their speed/mobility
  
• Potential cons of no limitation:
  
  • The abuse of support unit requests as any weight class can equip them (however if other proficiency groups are viable alternatives this wouldn’t be the proficiency of choice - plus this currently occurs now i.e. any class can equip art/arty making them more widespread than necessary)

Mech Purchase / Upgrading Flexibility (no hard lock in)


Given there is no hard tie in between variants of the same chassis, players can choose to only purchase and upgrade their favourite variant. However they may choose to also purchase and upgrade other variants for additional bonuses. Further to this, since each variant can have different combinations of specialisations the player can have different roles for different variants.

e.g.
Raven 4X - for scouting and laying/clearing mines
Raven 3L - for harassing, flanking and team support

Armament Placement in Core vs Specialist Proficiencies

• All mechs should be viable as an offensive mech hence armament is a core proficiency
  
• If armament was in the specialist groups this lead to max builds where a mech would be mobile, have good heat management and strong offensive abilities. There needs to be a balance and sacrifice between abilities:

Fast + good heat management + average offensive abilities

Slow + good heat management + good offensive abilities
etc

Edited by Zanathan, 21 August 2014 - 09:43 PM.

[Zanathan]

Re-Engineering Proficiencies

The player should be given options to allow them to change their mech proficiencies if required but ensuring there is a time/money sink element to prevent abuse and also as a source of revenue.

A mechanism needs to be implemented that resets their proficiencies (per mech).

• Re-engineering will incur an MC cost or high C-Bill cost
  
• All experience is refunded

Modules and Consumables

No major rework is required for the current module/consumable mechanics save:

• Create new module groups to align with the mech proficiencies
  
• Group modules to the same proficiencies
  
• Create dependencies on module/consumable usage based on proficiencies
  
• Remove experience requirement to unlock
  
• Allow each mech to have (for balance purposes):
  
  • 2 module slot for each core proficiency (total of 4)
    
  • 1 module slot for each specialisation proficiency (total of 2)
    
  • 1 consumable slot per proficiency (total of 4)

The list of module groups will be:

• Mobility
  
• Mechanics
  
• Armaments
  
• Reconnaissance
  
• Defense
  
• Sapper and Support
  
• Tactician

The rules for modules and consumables will be:

• Modules and consumables will be treated the same in terms of purchasing/usage (no specific unlocking required - refer to below)
  
• All other modules/consumables can only be purchased and used by a mech if it has chosen the appropriate proficiency group. e.g. mobility modules/consumables are only usable if the mech is specialising in the mobility proficiencies. This reinforces the notion of roles as the choice a player makes in regards to proficiencies will equate to which modules/consumables are available
  
• Unlocking modules do not require SXP since with the introduction of Specialisation proficiency groups and related SXP, this is a huge time sink for players and it would be unreasonable to require additional SXP to unlock individual modules. However if the business deem there needs to be additional time sinks then the existing implementation where modules require unlocking prior to purchasing can be maintained - however this could potentially lead to unfavourable player experience - experience values would need to be tweaked accordingly (i.e. low SXP required for specialised proficiencies and high SXP for modules or vice versa).
  
• Modules can be purchased using C-Bills
  
• For consumables, in keeping in alignment with the current mechanics, two variants are available: C-Bill or MC
  
  • Consumables can be purchased using C-Bills or MC
    
  • There are two C-Bill versions, a basic and an improved version (different price points)
    
  • MC versions of the are superior to the basic version but on par with the improved version
    
  • Note: The upgrade mechanic was finicky and confusing as it wasn’t consistent for all items, by placing a high value C-Bill consumable on par with the MC version this continues to provides players with a non-MC version that is on par and works as a money sink (obvious price point wise it is still better to spend MC as the MC to C-Bill ratio is lower however players still have a choice)

Example of proficiency groups and modules/consumables



Diagram 4 - Example of the module and consumable slots




Table 2 - Example of Core modules and consumables







Table 3 - Example of Specialist modules and consumables


Solution Considerations

While providing a complete list of modules is out of scope, the following should be taken into consideration for module design to align with proficiency and overall usefulness:

• Pricing should be reasonable to promote sales (i.e. modules should not cost more than mechs as the choice for players would be obvious, most would opt to buy mechs)
  
• Modules should provide a benefit without a drawback (i.e. useful)
  
  • If there are drawbacks, the benefits should greatly outweigh the drawbacks (i.e. they need to be enticing)
    
  • For example all items/weapons have a number of attributes that can be tweaked with and to ensure all play styles are accounted for there needs to be different variants for each type (purpose is to enhance each offensive role type)

An example of a suite of modules for lasers (range vs damage vs heat):

For brawlers/skirmishers:

• Laser Brawler MK I - Type I

- Damage focus (increase damage)

- Reduced range

- Same heat

• Laser Brawler MK I - Type II

- Damage focus (increase damage)

- Same range

- Increased heat

For support and long range players:

• Laser Sniper MK I - Type I

-Range focus (increase range)

- Reduced damage

-Same heat

• Laser Sniper MK I - Type II

-Range focus (increase range)

-Same damage

-Increased heat

For heat efficiency builds:

• Laser Efficiency MK I - Type I

- Heat focus (reduced heat)

- Reduced damage

- Same range

• Laser Efficiency MK I - Type II

Heat focus (reduced heat)

Same damage

Reduced range

• Balance for modules/consumables can be achieved by restricting the number of available slots for each mech
  
  • Suggestion:
    
    • 2 module slot for each core proficiency (total of 4)
      
    • 1 module slot for each specialisation proficiency (total of 2)
      
    • 1 consumable slot per proficiency (total of 4)
  • Too many module slots or consumables can imbalance a match (e.g. if 2 consumables per proficiency = 8 consumables x 12 mechs = 96 consumables in a single match per side)
    
  • Potentially can restrict consumables further to:
    
    • 1 consumable slot per proficiency group (e.g. 1 for core and 1 for specialisation)

Role Warfare

As summarised in the beginning of the solution description there are two role categories that exist (offensive and non-offensive). With the redesign of the mech proficiencies, modules and consumables this naturally leads to a rich and stronger definition to both offensive and non-offensive roles. This in turn makes all weight classes more viable and does not focus purely on high alpha / high damage output mechs.

In summary the redesign of the features above will provide greater role possibilities and customisations.


Solution Considerations

Commanders

While commanders will benefit from choosing the tactician proficiency, this is not mandatory for them to become commanders if they choose to (same mechanic in game via team summary screen or battlegrid). To enhance the commander role the follow functions are recommended to improve and enhance this unique role (that is not defined by either mech, loadout or proficiency):

• Ability to setup multiple objects and waypoints on the battlegrid

e.g. 1. move into position, 2. defense this position, 3. move forward, etc

• Focus Target Mech (aka Target Painting)
  
• Defend Target Mech
  
• Rally point (or rally to me ping)
  
• Transparent battlegrid HUD overlay mode (allows the pilot to view the map without hindering the cockpit view and having to constantly enter and leave the battlegrid view while in the middle of combat)

Some of these functions obviously require the player to be within range of the target and the target is being targeted by friendly mechs.

Base Support

As part of the upcoming attack and defend mode and in the future (hopefully) more strategic gameplay involving different game modes and mechanics, abilities centered around base support and the like were devised (e.g. Base Defense, Turret Quickdraw, etc). These are scattered in the Sapper and Support and Tactician modules with the idea that these two mutually exclusive proficiencies would work in tandem for greater team play.

As different game objectives and modes are introduced additional modules can be released to enhance support for these objectives.


Information Warfare

Similar to the natural result of role warfare from the changes to the mech proficiencies, modules and consumables, the framework provides a method in placing strategic abilities to enhance information gathering and counter intelligence to provide meaningful information warfare.

Proficiencies, modules and consumables scattered across the reconnaissance, defense and tactician proficiencies provide basis of information warfare to the following key areas:

• Assess team condition and status (e.g. Company Status, Ally Targeting, Engagement, etc)

• Assess enemy team composition and status (e.g. Enemy Trail, Enemy Composition, Module Scan, etc)

• Enhanced sensor and targeting (e.g. Modules like Multi Targeting System, Ultrasonic Detector, Sentinel Motion Detectors, etc)

• Defensive spoofing of information (e.g. Consumables like Ghost Signature, Electron Smoke Grenade, IFF Jammer, etc)

Diagram 5 - Example of Ally Targeting




Diagram 6 - Example of Company Status




Diagram 7 - Example of Enemy Trail




Diagram 8 - Example of Enemy Composition


References

• Sarna BattleTech Wiki (sarna.net)

• BattleTech 1722 - Lostech, The Mechwarrior Equipment Guide

• BattleTech 35017 - Combat Equipment

• BattleTech - Mechwarrior III Battle Armor Design Rules

• Unofficial Mechwarrior Online Wiki (mwo.gamepedia.com)

• Smurfy MWO Reference (mwo.smurfy-net.de)

Edited by Zanathan, 21 August 2014 - 09:46 PM.

[Foksuh]

Well, I didn't read it all but there were good general ideas of the skills etc which would have provided much better motivation to play this game from the start.. at least there'd be something to work on, rather than just the c-bill grind.

That's always been one of the major issues with MWO, if you ask me. People play other F2P games because there's something to work on, tanks, planes, skills to increase etc.
MWO has never provided any long term goal, with small "achievements"(as in, I reached new rank/gained new skill/unlocked new vehicle) coming in at somewhat steady basis.

I've always had massive gripe relating to the fact that I need to buy 3 different mechs of the same variant to even gain the second level. To this day I have not elited a single mech, it's not enough of a motivation, just artificial limit/lenghtening mechanic because there's nothing else beyond it.. and even the elite level skills did not seem worthy enough to pick up.

Had it been single mech but with much deeper skill trees like in this example, it'd provide much better motivation in not just mastering a mech but also becoming really good in the role you've picked..

Maybe you guys at PGI should pay attention to ideas like this!

[Zanathan]

Thanks for at least taking the time to read some of it.

The point of the suggestion was definitely to provide an added feeling of progression (plus removing the dreaded 3 variant lock in for progression) as well as addressing the issues of in-depth roles amongst other things.

[Prezimonto]

That is seriously deep. I enjoyed it. Of course things would need tweaking, but I'd much rather play with that set up than what we have.

[Zanathan]

Thanks. I seriously didn't except anyone to touch this with a 10 foot pole =)